doris diosa davenport's Biography
Member Info
doris davenport is an Educator / Writer / Performance Poet. She has done numerous poetry performances and workshops (most recently, the 13th Annual Georgia Literary Festival in Sautee-Nacoochee, GA). She has published book reviews, articles, essays, and six books of poetry; the two latest are "sometimes i wonder" (2010) and in 2011, "ascent:poems" ( https://www.createspace.com/3652184). doris is from a small town in Northeast Georgia, in the Appalachian foothills, a graduate of Paine College (Augusta, GA, Class of ‘69) with a Ph.D. in African American Literature (University of Southern California). From 2007-2011, she was an Associate Professor of English at Albany State University (Albany, GA) where she coordinated the Annual Poetry Festival for four years. Currently she is an Associate Professor of English (back) at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, AL.
Influences
Other writers: Zora Neale Hurston, Nikki Giovanni, Octavia Butler, Toni Morrison, Lee Smith, and many others but Hurston, over and over and always, because of her literary locale, the way she worked oral culture, her joy in being who and what she is and we are.
Musical influences: Nina Simone, Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Harris (sax player), James Brown, Kitty Lester, Nancy Wilson, "ALIVE" and . . .
Additionally, one of my earliest and most primary influences was the beautifully poetic, mystical environment of my home in the Appalachian foothills, including my family and community. The other earliest literary influences, before i was twelve, were ghost stories, science fiction and fantasy ("Alice in Wonderland" when i was 6 years old). After that, an addictive reader, i have been influenced by almost everything that i have ever read.
Upcoming Works
"Azalea Love: A Memoir" presently under consideration by a publisher
Two collections of poetry
Recommended Links
Publishers
- Louisiana State Univ. Pr.
- Sautee-Nacoochee Community Center, Sautee-Nacoochee, GA
- Myself
About doris
Causes doris davenport Supports
United Negro College Fund (www.uncf.org), Human Rights Campaign (...



